The COVID-19 pandemic prompted people to search for new ways to connect with others. It was no longer safe to meet up with friends or family in person. Workplaces shut down, forcing employees to move to online platforms to continue working.

Although video chat and streaming platforms existed before the pandemic, the lockdowns prompted more people to move online to socialize as well. Thanks to technological developments, there are multiple ways to interact online, including these fun ways!

Learn a second language.

Anyone who's always wanted to learn a second language can head to belatone.com to kickstart the process. Download Belatone's app on your smartphone or desktop. You'll have access to lessons you can work through as quickly or slowly as you choose. Through the app, you can gain first-hand practice talking to people fluent in the language you're learning. Request a live chat, and the app will match you with a native speaker who's available. You could even sign up to chat with people learning your native language and get paid to help people learn your language.

Play video games and make videos.

Teamfight Tactics (TFT) is a League of Legends spinoff game TFT is a multiplayer game. Players create teams and compete to defeat other teams during online gameplay. Players can choose between different TFT comps and use different units during early gameplay and add replacements in late gameplay. Popular comps include Dawnbringer Karma, Nightbringer Aphelios, Redeemed Vel'Koz, Forgotten Draven, and Assassin Nocturne.

You can give yourself an advantage when playing TFT by referring to strategy tips. For example, you can give yourself an advantage playing Dawnbringer Karma comp using items such as Morellonomicon, Chalice of Malice, and Zeke's Herald. God-King, Dawnbringer, Ironclad, Revenant, Brawler, Invoker, Knight, and Invoker are units you should have in your lineup.

Gamers can also play video games on platforms such as Twitch, enabling people to watch their streams. You can also make videos you post online and interact with commenters.

Use Discord to host a forum.

Discord is a platform for forums. It was designed for gamers but has expanded far beyond the gaming community. People head to Discord to chat about various topics, including TV shows, sports, books, and investing. Users can set Discord servers to private. The primary way new members join is by using a link. The default invitation links are good for seven days, meaning unless you change the link settings, people have a limited time to join your server after you invite them, enabling you to protect your server from trolls.

Launch a server and add categories to your server. For example, if you're creating a server for writers, you might have a category for discussing publication venues and another category for writing feedback. In the publication category, you can add channels. Channels are where you discuss different topics. You could add a channel for magazines accepting submissions. You could add other channels to your publication category, including publishers accepting submissions, submission formatting guidelines, and agents accepting submissions. You can also use text or voice to chat in channels.

Video chat with friends and family.

Zoom, Skype, and FaceTime are all apps that let you talk to people online. Zoom focuses on videoconferencing. People use Skype for teleconferencing, video calls, phone calls, and texting. FaceTime is another videoconferencing app. Thanks to these apps, it's possible to chat face to face from the other side of the world. Users can pay for enhanced features or use the free services for calls. For example, Zoom limits free calls. You can't have more than 100 participants chatting for up to 40 minutes. If your group wants to chat longer, they'll have to call in and start a new Zoom call. If you have more than 100 people you want to have on the call, you'll need to subscribe.

There are many ways to socialize online. Use apps to learn a second language or video chat with friends and family. Joining a Discord server's a great way to interact with people with similar interests. You can also join gaming streams and play video games online.